DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
The U.S. has captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following strikes in Caracas early this morning. President Trump says Maduro and his wife were being flown out of the country. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a social media post that they would face justice in U.S. courts. We turn now to Todd Robinson. He's a career diplomat who served as acting U.S. ambassador to Venezuela during Trump's first term. Ambassador, good morning.
TODD ROBINSON: Good morning.
ESTRIN: What stands out to you from President Trump's announcement?
ROBINSON: Well, I mean, it all stands out to me. This is virtually unprecedented. The idea that in our hemisphere, we would go into another country and arrest the leader of even if, you know, if we consider him illegitimate, still arrest the de facto leader of a country. Obviously, it doesn't happen every day. This is unprecedented, and I think there are a lot of legitimate questions about what comes next.
ESTRIN: Well, do you support it?
ROBINSON: Well, here's what I would say. I definitely support Maduro facing his own people for the crimes he committed in terms of holding power illegitimately. Whether or not it's up to the United States to make that happen, I think, is a different question.
ESTRIN: Venezuela's vice president said this attack was a violation of international law. Does Trump have the legal authority to carry out this strike?
ROBINSON: Yet again, another good question. I mean, you know, we saw the statement from Attorney General Bondi about - or I saw the post. I don't know if it's an official statement or not, but, you know, we saw what he's being charged with. That's U.S. domestic law. That's not international law. And I think there are legitimate questions about whether or not you can go into another country, into the country where the president is sitting and arrest them. You know, it's different from, say, if he had traveled to Turkey or Russia or something like that, and was caught in transit and/or given over by those authorities. I just don't know if they have legitimate authority, international - under international law.
ESTRIN: OK. So I'm hearing a lot of questions you're posing about the legitimacy of what the United States has done. Let's look inside Venezuela. Are you concerned that there could be a power vacuum there now that Maduro has been deposed?
ROBINSON: Absolutely. I mean, I don't - I'm not sure there's going to be a power vacuum. I think because so many of his cronies apparently were left behind, at least immediately, I envision one of them stepping up. You have the president of the Congress - or the vice president and president of the Congress, Delcy Rodríguez, still there. You have the head of the party, Diosdado Cabello, still there. You have the head of the military, Padrino, General Padrino, still there. All - any of those people could step up. Who you don't have there, funny enough, are the two people who legitimately might be able to take over. María Corina Machado is, I think, still outside of the country, and Edmundo González, I believe, is still out of the country. So again, you know, there are a lot of questions about what exactly is left behind now and, you know, what more the United States is willing to do to ensure that a potential legitimate person takes over.
ESTRIN: So in the minute or so we have left, what do you think the priority now should be for the U.S. and for U.S. foreign policy towards Venezuela?
ROBINSON: Well, I - number one, I mean, we have to be think - I hope they're thinking about what comes next because we just can't, you know, break things and then leave them in a broken state. But, number two, you know, what is the international community saying? Have we consulted our - with other leaders in the region and the other countries in the region? You know, are they supporting this? I mean, I just don't know, and you're seeing scattered statements from them now. So I guess we'll find out later - and we'll find out more later from the 11 a.m. press conference in Mar-a-Lago.
ESTRIN: OK. We'll be listening. And thank you for joining us. That's Todd Robinson, former acting U.S. ambassador to Venezuela, during President Trump's first term. Thank you, ambassador.
ROBINSON: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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